Hi Supermum, It.s ridiculous the under occupancy supplements thats why our last few holidays have been diy and booked an apartment direct. You only pay for the apartment. It depends when your check in opens 2 or 3 hours before. You should get that information from your travel agent. We usually arrive about 15 mins before check in opens never had a seating problem yet. Hope this helps

Alexa

supermum it all depends on how many adult occupants the price
is based on. E.g xamount per person based on six adults sharing
or eight adults sharing etc. So if there are four adults in that instance
you will be charged the supplement based on under adult occupancy. Do you see what I mean?
For peace of mind get to the airport extra early for check in and be head of the queue. Thats what I'll be doing although I'm only taking two kids.

Helenxx

Usually anyone paying adult price will add to the occupancy of the room, therefore reducing the overall cost of under-occupancy supplements. If you have paid for 4 adults and 2 children (even though 2 of those "adults" are children) then you will pay the supplement for 4 people which will be less than the supplement for 2 people.
I'm a single parent so one of my children always has to travel as an "adult" as far as pricing goes so I can get child price for the other child. Where supplements apply, I pay the supplement for 2 adults in the room rather than the supplement for 1 adult.

Is it not time that the so called under occupancy and child rates were abolished. Before anyone cries foul lets look at it. The so called adult price is inflated by this charge. A child still takes a seat on an aircraft. A child still occupies a room. On the bus when transferring. The so called 'Free Child Place' has to be paid for somewhere. You get 'nowt for nowt' - I can see an excuse for raising prices in peak periods - supply and demand. How they justify the level of increase is another matter. I do suspect that most appartments never ever achieve the so called 'Full Occupancy' so I think it is an excuse to charge extra. Some of the places I have stayed in over the years could never ever have accomodated the theoretical numbers without everyone being very intimate. If you tried to put that number of people in an apartment in this country then you would have had the local authority down on you. I doubt very much that the owners of the accomodation get paid extra.

fwh

Under-occupancy supplements can make a considerable difference to the price of a holiday compared to the price 'per person' quoted in the brochure It would be easier if apartments were priced 'per property' as they are if you book DIY.
Over the last few years I have found it actually works out cheaper to go All-Inclusive compared to the cost of Self Catering plus supplements plus food and drink for 2 weeks
Thomas Cook's Sunset brochure has always had an easier pricing guide on their brochure pages - you're still paying the extra for having fewer people in the apartment but they give you the price per person depending on how many are in the apartment, rather than you seeing a reasonable price and then having to add on the supplements giving you a not-so-reasonable price.

Hi. Supermum. Like Ally I also starting booking holidays DIY as being a family of 5 we were fed up with huge supplements. Usually having to pay for 6 people in 2 bedroom apartments. It can seem daunting and my best suggestion would be, go to the smaller local travel agents, as they can book flights and accommodation for you in a package and as mentioned you will only pay for apartment or hotel room prices not the number staying. It would do no harm just to do and see how much the price difference would be. We had some great holidays like this before taking the plunge and now do our own over the internet. There are so many people on here that will answer any questions. Agree regards arriving at airport, we normally arrive about 30 minutes before check in opens and have always got seats together. Karen

Hi Supermum

It is scandalous the way the travel agents charge for under occupancy. That is why more and more people are booking their holidays privately with either villa or apartment owners as you only pay for the price of the villa or apartment no matter how many people travel. Maybe something to think about int he future.

Cheers

Peter

How good is your maths?? this is how it works i own an apartment block each apartment has a double bedroom and two bead/chairs i sell the rights to that room to a tour opperator for which i charge £A the tour opperator then adds his proffit say w% he then takes the cost plus proffit and devides it by the maximum number of beds £a=w% devided by 4 this gives him X the price per person(adult) if he offers reduced rates for children this has to be re-cooped the only way is by under occupancy charges if you book your own accomodation you pay for the appartment not per person

brian

The maths is easy - the problem is the lack of transparency in the pricing policy. The mark up on any one apartment is going to be high - that is no problem - if you book 50 apts for the season you will incur a charge that needs to be spread over the number of available beds. You will not achieve 100% occupancy every week. My complaint was always that you needed to spend a great deal of time working out the price. I have suggested before that the better way would be to show a charge per apartment. As the holiday is normally 7 or 14 days then there should be a single figure to add per person under the maximum number that it will accomodate. Child or adult does not make any difference - they all occupy a bed. The airfare part of the price also does not change. They all occupy a seat. Get rid of the so called child prices as they only result in the inflation of the holiday price. As I keep saying 'you don't get nowt for nowt' - You should not need to spend hours trying to work it out.

fwh

How come Thomsons who now sell accommodation + flights seperately come to this. Book the Hotel room of them for 3 people 2 weeks Half Board = £800 + their flights £500 = £1300. (All booked on the Thomsons own website). but booking the same on their normal package = £2300. How can they justify so much difference in price when everything is exactly the same. Karen

Single room supplements in hotels are diabolical too. A single room sleeps errr....1, why should a supplement be charged on top of the basic room rate? They cant fit any more than one in there!! This surely should be made illegal its just basic Theft!!!